Education Globally
Urged by the love of Christ, we choose to express our mission through ministry directed toward education.
For us, education means enabling persons to reach the fullness of their potential as individuals created in God’s image and assisting them to direct their gifts toward building the earth.
(You Are Sent, Constitution 22)
The right to education for each and every person was clearly established in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (508 Languages) and reaffirmed in the 1979 Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination against Women (English, Español) and the 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child (English, Español).
The promise of education for all was repeated again when world leaders came together to make educational commitments to make the right to Education for All (English, Español) a reality for all.
The key role education plays in shaping the future of our planet was highlighted, when, in September 2019, Pope Francis initiated the Global Compact on Education. A pact that puts humanity at the center and encourages systemic change on a global scale, by rethinking new model of progress based on the dignity of the person’s ability to affect the heart of society as strongly stated in October 2020 Francis’ message. (Deutsch, English, Español, Português, Italian)
Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education
Ensure inclusive and equitable
quality education
and promote lifelong
learning opportunities
for all
The Targets
Despite the good intentions and significant efforts of many, too many girls and boys—and women and men—still lack access to quality education.
- Less than one in five countries guarantee 12 years of free and compulsory education (page xvi)
- In half of 148 countries, less than three-quarters of primary schools had access to drinking water (page xvi)
- Globally, 86% of primary school teachers are trained, but the proportion is lower in Southern Asia (77%), the Caribbean (70%) and sub-Saharan Africa (62%). (page 242)
- 19% of adults in mostly high income countries did not meet the minimum literacy level. In the United States, 29% of adults did not reach the minimum numeracy level. (page 200)
- Only 66% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education, 45% in lower secondary and 25% in upper secondary. (page xvi)
(Global Education Monitoring Report 2017/18 – Español,
summaries available in German, Japanese)
We each have a responsibility to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Use the targets below to create action to ensure quality education.
Target 4.1
By 2030, ensure free primary and secondary education for all girls and boys.
Target 4.2
By 2030, ensure equal access to quality pre-primary education for all girls and boys.
Target 4.3
By 2030, ensure equal access to affordable technical, vocational and higher education for all women and men.
Target 4.4
By 2030, substantially increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial success.
Target 4.5
By 2030, eliminate all discrimination in education.
Target 4.6
By 2030, ensure universal literacy and numeracy
Target 4.7
By 2030, ensure education for sustainable development and global citizenship.
Global Compact on Education
The Global Compact on Education has been central to Pope Francis’ teaching and his dialogue with the world. His message on education is both a summary and a program illustrating what he has repeatedly said, that “to educate is an act of hope.” We and all people of good will are invited to join the Global Compact on Education, a pact to encourage change on a global scale, so that education may help create fraternity, peace, and justice.
As humanity faces pandemic and displacements, it has become even more urgent to put the person at the center of every educational process, to invest the best energy for an education of quality for all and to train people willing to serve the community and work for the common good.
Four great challenges from the Global Compact on Education are:
- human dignity and rights
- integral ecology from the point of view of Laudato Si’
- peace and citizenship
- solidarity and development
Educating young people to the fraternity, to learn to overcome divisions and conflicts, promote hospitality, justice and peace is an invitation to create a global change of mind and heart through education. Networking in this common mission has been key for systemic change.
“The Transformation of the School within the Framework of the Global Compact on Education” (English, Español, Italiano, Português), Seminar on the Formation of Educators, UISG 2021
Seven Commitments for the Global Compact on Education
1 : To make human persons the center
To foster their distinctiveness and their capacity for relationship with others against the spread of the throwaway culture.
2 : To listen to the voices of children and young people
In order to build together a future of justice, peace and a dignified life for every person.
3 : To advance the women
To encourage the full participation of girls and young women in education.
4 : To empower the family
To consider the family as the first and essential place of education.
5 : To welcome
To educate and be educated on the need for acceptance and in particular, openness to the most vulnerable and marginalized.
6 : To find new ways of understanding economy and politics
To be committed to finding new ways of understanding the economy, politics, growth, and progress that can truly stand at the service of the human person and the entire human family, within the context of an integral ecology.
7 : To safeguard our common home
To safeguard and cultivate our common home, protecting it from the exploitation of its resources and to adopt a more sober lifestyle marked by the use of renewable energy sources and respect for the natural and human environment.
Resources
- UNESCO Roadmap to reach the SDG4 goal is the Education 2030 Framework for Action (English, Español).
- Global Campaign for Education (Deutsch, English, Español, Japanese, Portugues) promotes education as a basic human right and mobilizes public pressure on governments and the global community to fulfill their promises to provide free, compulsory, public, basic education for all people; in particular for children, women and all disadvantaged sectors of
- The Right to Education Project (English, Español) aims to promote social mobilization and legal accountability.
- The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (English) is a partnership of organizations committed to narrowing the gender gap in primary and secondary education. It also seeks to ensure that, by 2030,
- Countries to achieve measurable change in girls’ education and gender equality; and
- Global and national development agendas to reflect emerging concerns on girls’ education and gender equality, especially for the most marginalized.
- Global Education Monitoring Report
- EdStats (English) is the World Bank’s comprehensive Database of education statistics. It provides statistical snapshots of individual country’s progress on EFA and the education goals
- 7 Insane Ways Children Get to School All Around the World
- A guide to realize the Global Compact on Education (Deutsch, English, Español, Português)
- Global compact on education: the four areas of study
- The village of education: News, words, stories from the educational world (English, Español)
- Popes Francis’ video message, “Global Educational Compact – Together look beyond” (Deutsch, English, Español, Italiano, Português)
- Global Compact on Education and UNESCO (English, Español)
- The Transformation of the School within the Framework of the Global Compact on Education (English, Español, Italiano, Português)
Action
- Join the Global Campaign for Education . Sign up for action alerts and follow the latest political developments on
- Plan a Film Festival featuring EFA videos, such as: 1 Goal: Kids’ Dreams; 1 Goal: 2 Girls Born on the Same Day, The Girl Effect, Zanabu’s Story: A Girl’s Dream of Education, Education for All: Class of 2015, Für das Menschenrecht auf Bildung, Corresponsales de Piura, Perú: La Mayor Lección Mundial 2008, 2008 Biggest Lesson—Español, Why is Education Important?
- Remind your elected leaders of their responsibility to provide quality education to all their citizens. Write, call, fax, and email those who have the power to make the promise of Education for All
- Write to your local newspaper, give a lecture, or sponsor a rally in support of Education for All.
- Review the school curriculum in the perspective of the Global Compact on Educational.
- Consider the 7 commitments for the Global Compact on Education in your ministry.
Prayer
Education 2030. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
Spirit of Wisdom, open our eyes that we might see
the needs of your people longing to learn;
open our ears that we might hear the cry
of your people hungry for truth;
open our hearts that we might embrace
the yearning of your people thirsting for you.
Keep us faithful to the vision
of Blessed Theresa and Mother Caroline,
that we might understand anew
your Gospel call to transform the world. Amen.